Finishing the Crappy First Draft

One of the biggest challenges for me as a writer is finishing the crappy first draft. To simply get all the ideas out on the page and let editing happen later. I have a habit of staring at the blank page and waiting for the “perfect” words to come to me. Or editing too much while trying to get the first draft finished.

To risk sounding overly dramatic, I’m proud to say I faced the challenge and prevailed. Take that blank page!

At nearly 100K words, my (crappy) first draft of Desert of the Beast is finished. (This is the book that comes right after Angel from the Rust.)

Granted, the draft is hideous. And if it were to escape out into public, the peasants would snatch up their torches and pitch forks and kill it for being the monster it is. But that’s the nature of the first draft.

So now I’ve jumped into the editing process, and I look forward to getting my second draft done before the end of the year. No promises though. Being a high school teacher and a father of three can slow the writing process down a bit. (Ah, the joys of parenting and teaching!)

But I can promise that I’ll make it the best story I possibly can. And that means no holding back in the editing process.

As one of my favorite adages goes: “Write without fear. Edit without mercy.”